Cricket Communications Cricket Is The Operating Subsidiary Of Leap Wireless International *****DONT SUSPEND YOUR SERVICE.. SHUT IT OFF************ Nationwide Nationwide

I'm glad you got a "good" bill in the mail. See? The amount of "suspended" time was removed from the billing, and you only owe what was considered "used.

I hope you keep that 2 year contract with the new carrier. If you don't stick by it for whatever reason, be on the lookout for that dreaded Early Termination Fee. It's VERY hard to get out of it if it ever should happen.

Also, read the terms and conditions concerning your service as well, especially the part that talks about dropped calls and phone returns. I sure hope you took advantage of their phone insurance!!

I currently have Verizon, and I'm pretty happy with my service. It's just kinda funny sometimes because there are some "dead" spots right near my home and calls drop within this 100-200 ft area while I'm driving. All I talk to is my wife mostly, which is FREE because we're on a family share plan.

Hope your new wireless carrier works for you!

Now thats more like it! Not sure why its $9.00 but I'm not gonna push it. Just thought you all would like to know the out come.

Still feel like I got the run around when I called customer service, but at least there is a happy ending after all, unless ofcourse I get another bill next month(no way why did I even say that). Thanks again Magic for your time and help with this problem. also thanks to the editors for this site to gripe
about rip offs!

If you are *terminating* service with *ANY* carrier, do *NOT* take an offer to suspend service until you decide if you want to stay with another carrier you have chosen.

ALL carriers (even Cricket) state that you MAY be responsible for any billing amount until your service is unsuspended again (it IS explained in the terms & conditions). Be aware that you WILL be credited this back again after unsuspension of service.

Again, my recommendation to *ALL* customers of *ANY* wireless carrier or with any other "monthly" service billing: it's *VERY* important that you read *ALL* the terms & conditions. You ACCEPT them whether you read it or not.

Magic I do thank you for your time, you are certainly a gentleman. This is my final post, which I stand by. Since I wasn't informed or I was misinformed to say the least
that I would be charged for suspending my account,plus the way it was handled after the fact I feel the public SHOULD
be made aware of this RipOff!!!!!!

Thank you Editors for this forum! Too bad my 3 year relationship with cricket had to end on such a sour note!!

I understand what you're saying now. So you did actually agree to suspend service temporarily with a CSR over the phone. Bad thing is, you have to adhere to the policy regarding the suspension of your phone (all the terms & condiditons of Cricket's service is on their website (https://www.mycricket.com/termsconditions.aspx). It includes information about suspending your service.

While your service is suspended, *all* wireless companies' billing systems continue to bill you for the service (and they tell you to keep paying your bill...I just read Verizon's terms & conditions, and it states that in those exact words). Whenever your decide to disconnect service or you get another phone, then they *credit* back the account for the number of days without service.

My word of caution: be careful whenever you accept and/or agree to something over the phone. You accepted an offer, but then it didn't turn out the way you thought it would (I'm sorry if it wasn't explained in full detail to you by the CSR). Believe me, Cricket is not there to rip people off. It wouldn't still exist if that were the case.

As for not owing anything, that's hard to say since I can't see your account "live" in front of me. If you originally activated your Cricket account before October 2002, it was more than likely a Pay-in-advance account (you pay for the upcoming month's service...if your bill is due on the 1st, you pay for service until the next month). If you've activated/reactivated since October 2002, then it's a post-pay account (you pay for service after you use it...if your bill is due on the 1st, it is for service up to the 1st of the month).

Again, I'm sorry for all the confusion over this issue. Hope your new carrier meets your needs!!

My advice to you (and all customers): read ALL the terms and conditions of *anything* you sign up for. Also, if a CSR doesn't sound like they're giving all the information, ask for it. Remember: the companies automatically assume that you have read and understand all the terms and conditions whenever you call in to Customer Service. Why? Because you agree to those terms and conditions whether or not you read and/or understand them when that phone is activated.

PLEASE read my 1st post again I called to disconnect my account,I knew nothing about suspending accounts,I had already signed with new carrier, I did not intend to have cricket for at least 2yrs because signed new contract with new carrier for 2years,I just wanted to end my service with cricket, which i have no contract with. when i called they wanted to know why i want stop service, I said my phone is falling apart after 3yrs
and since they only give free to new customers,I chose to go with a new carrier already for 2years, csr says they would give 50.oo for a new phone, i said to late i have new service already, csr says ok we will give you a free phone, I said again I have a new carrtier,csr says why dont we just suspend your account so you can think about it and if you want return to cricket we will still give you a fre phone, i said sure thats fine. that was the end of the call. I then get a bill for service, so i called and the supervisor said since they couldn't
reasign my number i would have to pay. you know the rest of the story she said she would credit 14 days, i said this sucks said thats the policy. i havent yet rec a new bill for the new amount yet. but now you say i should owe nothing anyway. is that what your saying?

I see what you mean now. Basically suspension of your account works like this: 1) you request to suspend your account. 2) The "bad" thing: the system is *still* going to bill you for the service because the account is *not* disconnected yet, just suspended. The system only sees either "active" or "disconnected", and if it sees "active" even though it's suspended, it's going to say/think "there is an amount to be billed for this account".

After the service is turned back on, you are then *credited* for "time without service", of which the business rule is that they only allow up to 1/2 month worth of credit. The other thing is this: you had a pay-in-advance account. Had it been a post-pay account, you would have owed the other 1/2 of the month.

Typically, suspension of an account is usually done for lost/stolen phones. That way, when a customer calls back, all we do is switch phones and turn service "on" for the new phone.

Sorry it wasn't explained to you correctly. But in all reality, it does *not* "cost" you anything to suspend your service. You aren't having to pay anything upfront to suspend it.

The csr Did Not inform me there would be any charge to suspend my account,if he had I would have passed on the offer!that is exactly my point, when I called to complain and spoke to the supervisor she said wasn't there so she didnt know what was said but policy was the couldnt give me full credit. Which of course made me even more mad. Like I said I never had my service suspended for non payment for close to 3 years, paid my bill in full and on time always. and by the way it was a pay in advance account.

The bottom line is so now even if I did want to return someday to cricket
I won't because of the way it was handled, and also the way I was treated, and I think that just SUCKS! and is a RIP OFF
Thank you again for your time and interest, it appears they lost a good employee when you left

I'm sorry for all the misunderstanding concerning the disconnection of your service.

I know what you're talking about. Like I said before, I recently signed up for a 2-year contract with Verizon, and at this point, I'm wanting to disconnect service because the service seems pretty dismal to me. For a "nationwide" service, there sure are lots of dropped calls. And I always seem to be in a "weak" service area no matter where I am.

Yeah, the phones were cheap (19.99 w/ 2 year contract...retail price was 149.99). That's the catch - the 2 year contract. Even if you hate the service and it doesn't work well for you in most areas, you *have* to stick to the contract or face the dreaded "early termination fee". I think it's stupid to charge someone to disconnect service, but then again....it's how they make you pay for the phones.

I used to have T-Mobile, and I loved it. It worked everywhere, and hardly any dropped calls. But then again, it may have been the type of phone I had.

Anyways, back to your point. I don't agree with the "1/2 month of credit for time without service (temporary suspension of service)", but what I do know is that that rule was just enacted not too long ago. Turns out some "bad" customers messed it up for everyone else, so now Cricket doesn't allow more than 1/2 month of credit towards any balance. It's always the customers that don't want to pay their bill that screw it up for people that do want to pay it in full and on-time.

A question remains though: did you *accept* the offer to temporarily suspend your account until you decided whether to keep the 2 year contract you had recently signed up for? If so, the CSR should have made you aware of the suspension policy *before* carrying it out. If that CSR did not, then it's the CSR's fault.

Is Cricket a rip-off company? I don't think so. Was your situation handled incorrectly? Yes, and no. Since I didn't take the call, I can't exactly say. If I heard the call myself and noticed errors on the CSR's end, then you shouldn't owe anything.

If you had a pay-in-advance account before you disconnected, you won't have to worry about owing any past due balance.

Thank you for taking the time to respond, I did call and talked with a supervisor, she was very nice, but all I got was an offer
to credit me 14 days not 30, because they couldnt reasign my number,company policy, it was a full moon,my name didnt end in a e i o u, whatever!!!!! its still a rip-off. I was a good customer paid on time, no shutoffs, got my rebate even. in the end It's my word agaist the csr's .THIS IS JUST PLAIN WRONG!
I STILL GOT RIPPED OFF!

First of all, I'm sorry for all the misunderstanding about suspension versus disconnection.

I know what you're talking about. What you did was call into Customer Service and asked to disconnect your service. What we try to do is keep you as a customer through giving you certain offers like a free month of service, a temporary suspension of service until you get a replacement phone or even a new cell phone.

What is offered to you is determined by the amount of time that you have had service with Cricket Communications. And yes, to be honest, the employees may get some type of "bonus" for keeping you as a customer, but there are certain requirements for the "bonus".

We offer to suspend service for a certain amount of time so you can give your "new" service a try or to get a new Cricket phone, that way if you don't like the other cell phone company or you need time to get a new phone, you can come back to Cricket at no upfront cost to you. That is why they offered to suspend your service. But again, to suspend your service is ONLY done with YOUR consent. We cannot do anything you don't ask us to do or that you don't consent to.

When you suspend your service for an amount of time, you WILL still get a bill in the mail because the service has NOT been disconnected, just suspended. You won't owe a bill because the service is not "on". This should have been told to you when you accepted the suspension offer. If all that was done was a suspension of service, then just call Cricket's Customer Service at 1-800-CRICKET and ask to disconnect it without any other offers.

I recently got Verizon wireless myself, not because I didn't like Cricket, but because I travel outside of Cricket's local calling area a lot and it's not all that beneficial to me, except for if decide to disconnect my home phone (which I'm still thinking about doing, by the way). The only drawback that I hate is the 2-year contract. Yes, the phone's cheap ($19.99 w/ 2 year contract), but that DOES NOT mean that is the REAL price of the phone.

One thing most Cricket customers fail to understand about Cricket's prices of cell phones is that Cricket has NO CONTRACTS, NO CREDIT CHECKS, NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED. All of Cricket's fees are MUCH like that of other wireless companies. I've checked out Verizon's fees, and they're the same. What they might not tell you is that you may have to "upgrade" your handset to get any offers that Verizon may have, which will also make you sign another 2 year contract again, not including the cost of the phone itself.

It all depends on your needs. If you need a phone to roam all everywhere with limited minutes, get something other than Cricket. If you need a phone that will work in many metropolitan areas and you won't worry about expensive overage minutes, then get Cricket. Get what is best for your lifestyle. If you talk on the phone a lot to people on different wireless networks, Cricket may be your best bet because you don't have to count minutes.

We will certainly miss you as a valued customer at Cricket Communications...
Have a great day!!

Just say no! No dont just suspend my service!! No I dont want to think about it for 30 days! No I dont want a free phone!
Just shut my phone off! End my account now! Discontinue my service! Because they must get some kind of bounus if they get you to just suspend your account! dirty rotten scum! They want to charge you 1 more month while your phone is off as a going away gift because they couldnt reassign your number